The present disclosure relates to a sheet conveying device that conveys a sheet member, and particularly relates to a sheet conveying device having a conveyance path for reversing a sheet member guided to a sheet discharge port and returning the sheet member to an image forming portion again, and an image forming apparatus including the sheet conveying device.
A typical image forming apparatus such as a copy machine, a printer, or the like has a reverse conveyance path used for forming images on both sides of a sheet member (print sheet). In the reverse conveyance path, a sheet member having an image formed on one side thereof is reversed and guided again to an image formation position at which an image is formed by an image forming portion. As the reverse conveyance path, for example, a path is known which branches from a discharge path extending from the image formation position to a sheet discharge port and extends from the branch point to a merging point that is at the upstream side of the image formation position in a conveying direction. The reversing of the sheet member is performed by the following method. Specifically, when an image has been formed on one side of a sheet member, the sheet member is sent to the discharge path. Then, when the rear end of the sheet member has passed through the branch point, conveyance of the sheet member being conveyed toward the sheet discharge port is stopped. Then, the sheet member is conveyed in the reverse direction (reversely conveyed) toward the branch point. Reversing the conveying direction and conveying the sheet member as described above is referred to as switch-back conveyance or reverse conveyance. The sheet member that has been switched back to be conveyed is guided to the reverse conveyance path by a guide member such as a flap. When the sheet member has been returned to an image transfer position via the reverse conveyance path, the reversing of the sheet member is completed. It should be noted that a method is also known in which a guide member such as a flap is not provided and a sheet member is introduced from the branch point to the reverse conveyance path owing to only stiffness of the sheet member.